Pictorials

Music Releases

AKB48's latest single "Eien Pressure" sells over a million copies in the first week

AKB48's 29th single "Eien Pressure" (released on December 5th) a song in which the winner of the "3rd Janken tournament", Shimazaki Haruka served as the center for the first time, sold 1,073,000 copies in the first week. With this result, the single topped Oricon's weekly single chart for the week of December 17th. This is their 10th consecutive single (and 11 singles in total) to sell over a million copies.

This new record allowed AKB48 to become the first female artist to sell a million copies for 10 consecutive singles, and this is the first time in 16 and a half years for any artist to achieve this since B'z accomplished this back in 1996.

Moreover, the group is now second all-time for the "total number of million-selling singles" after B'z whose record is 15 singles in total. They have also broken their own records for the "number of consecutive chart-topping singles" as well as the "total number of chart-topping singles" for a female group.

Shimazaki commented, "To be honest, I have felt uneasy and pressured that 'what if the record stops with the song I served as the center', but I feel relieved now. I am truly happy."